Metal-working machine.



N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACHINE.- APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11. 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' l/V VE/W'Oii' JVornS Elmore Cl ark;

WIT/M8858 N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11. 1913.

Patented Mayl 1917.

6 SHEETS-SHEET Z- ml l/E/l/ To B Norris Ema mark,

./ mum /fn) H mm 1m 11 1 WITNESSES- N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, I913.

(iSHEE EET 3- U 77 LUJJJLLULLLUULU l%fiml%ani 76 \m m 70 m WITIVESSES INVENTOR' Marx-11s Elmore warlt,

Patented 1, 1917.

N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN.H,1913.

Patented May 1, 1917.

magaz o 6 SHEETS-SHEET 4- MI l/E/ll T01? 8 1 Norfs Elmore war/r,

WITNESSES:

N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACHINE.

. APPLICATION nuzo mm. 1913.

1,22%,523 Patented May 1, 191?.

' 6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

.Norrz's Elmore CYark,

1 I l I J Fig. 15.

V I l i F 4 i i E i i I L L WITNESSES:

e SHEETS-SHEET a.

I Patented May 1, 1917.

N. E. CLARK.

METAL WORKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.II.1913- llW/E/VTOR JVornl; Elmore (Var/z.

Aroms WITNESSES NORRIS ELMORE CLARK, F PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

METAL-WORKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 191'? Application filed January 11, 1913. SeIiaI No. 741,376.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORRIS ELMoRE CnARK, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at Plainville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Metal-Working Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to manufacture of what is commonly termed expanded metal.

The main object is to provide a machine for slitting and forming or partially form ing reticulated metal lath of the character set forth in my expanded metal fabric patent, #930,350, dated August 10, 1909. Another object is to combine a slitting and forming operation to producea finished or partially finished product having longitudinal corrugations, either in the slitted or unslitted portions or both.

Another object is to counteract any tendency of the product to warp.

Another-object .is to produce a relative longitudinal movement of adjacent unslitted portions of the stock.

The invention contemplates the use of rigid cutters rigidly held so as to avoid chattering, uneven work and consequently wear on the cutters. In the preferred form of the invention the cutting edges are arranged alternately converging and diverging and the material to be cut is fed longitudinally step by step so that successive series of converging and diverging rows of short slits in staggered arrangement are produced. When the material is to be longitudinally corrugated as well as slitted, the edges may be bent over and the intermediate portions of the slitted or unslitted stock are longitudinally corrugated to a suitable depth pending upon the character of product desired and the subsequent operations, if any, contemplated.

Some of the unslitted strips may be transversely corrugated to compensate for any foreshortening of the slitted portions.

Figure 1, is a side View showing the general construction of a machine embodying the improvements of my invention.

Fig. 2, is a fragment of stock: as slitted according to my invention.

Fig. 3, is a front elevation of a pair of rolls for acting upon the material to bend the edges and to form relatively small longitudinal corrugations in the unslitted portions of the stock. d

Fig. 3 is a side view illustrating two toothed rolls for transversely corrugating unslitted strips of the stock.

Fig. 4, is a fragmentary end view of tools for bending an unslitted edge and producing longitudinal corrugations ,in the slitted portions of the stock. I

Fi 4 is a fragmentarydetail View showing s eet flattening and bending dies.

Fig. 5, is a vertical longitudinal section of one form of cutting tools.

Fig. 6, is a plan view of the die cutters, strippersand lifter plates.

Fig.7, is an end view and partial transverse vertical section of the cutting tools shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing one of the cutters and the dogs for anchoring the ends of the cutter to the holder.

Fig. 9, is a perspective View of one of the lifter plates.

Fig. 10, is a vertical section and longitudinal view showing a modified form of construction.

Fig. 11, is a plan view of the die membe and showing the stripper plate and lifter plate.

Fig. 12, is a transverse vertical sectional view of another modification with punch cutters in the form of thin plates adapted to-cut on both edges.

Fig. 13, is a fragmentary side view of the same.

Fig. 14, is a fragmentary plan view of the die member of the construction of Figs.-

12 and 13.

Fig. 15, is a perspective view of one of the punch cutters illustrated in Figs. 12, 13 and 14.

Fig, 16, is a transverse vertical section of another modification with cutters in the farm of multiple plates, each cutting on one o ge.

Fig. 17, is a plan view of the die member of Fig. 16.

The stock is fed into the machine by a pair of rolls 1 and 2 and fed out by a pair of rolls 3 and 4. The stationary tools are I shaft of the feed roll 2. This plate carries 10 one or more pawls, such as 11 held in spring pressed engagement with the edge of a ratchet 12 which is fixed on the shaft of the roller 2. The upper roller 1 is suitably geared to the' lower roller 2. Similarly the upper roller 3 is geared to the lower roller 4 which has fixed on its shaft a ratchet 13. The oscillating plate 14 on the shaft of roller 4 carries one or more pawls 15 for engagement with the ratchet 13. A link rod 16 connects the two oscillating plates 10 and 14 so that the two plates are oscillated simultaneously by the action of the rod 9. The feeding stroke can be readily adjusted by adjusting the connection between the rod 9 and the crank plate 8.

The cutters in the preferred arrangement are laid out so as to form a series of expansible sections such as 20, 20, leaving the edge 21 and the connecting strips 22 unslitted. Each slitted section is made up of a series of rows of strands such as 23, 24 and 25, 26, all converging toward each other. The adjacent strands of the series 23, 24 are connected together at a plurality of points such as 27, 28 and 29 and the strands of the other series are similarly connected to each other in staggered arrangement so that the sections are extensible. The edges 21 and intermediate strips 22 may be bent on edge or corrugated if desired for instance, by means of flanges such as 30 and 31 carried by one of the feed rolls and meshing with corresponding grooves in the companion roll. In a similar manner where the slits of the two converging series of a section do not meet in the center but leave a strip such as 32 as shown in Fig. 2 these plane of the sheet by suitable bending dies 'such as the stationary die 36 and the vertically movable die 37 carried by the gate. When it is desired to longitudinally corrugate the slitted sections'20, 20 this may be accomplished bya grooved die 40 and ver tical movable punches 431. In this case the edges of the stock having been bent over as previously described, are held by guide plates or between gripping jaws 42 and 43, the former of which is stationary and the latter vertically movable. Intermediate unslitted strips are support-ed on the shoulders 40. The vertically movable jaw is operated by a cam 44 on a shaft 45. A link 46 suspended from the reciprocating gate 6 is connected to an arm 47 which is secured to the end of the shaft 45 so that as the gate moves up and down it oscillates the arm 47 and shaft 45 and cam 44 and thus raises and lowers the jaw 43 to grip and release the edge of the stock. The lower edge of the punch 41 is preferably sloped gradually from the level of the slitted stock down to the depth to which it is desired to corrugate the slitted portion. With a short cutting stroke and a short feeding stroke it will be seen that the material is subjected to a number of operations of the punch 41 successively so that if desired a considerable depth of corrugations may be produced in the slitted portions. Each punch 41 intermittently engages an unslitted strip 32 and thus progressively moves it downward and backward relative to the adjacent unslitted strips 21 and 22 so as to open the slitted sections and form oppositely inclined meshwork sections. While I have shown a movable gripping jaw 43 it has been found that a stationary guide member in this same position will hold the edge of the stock while it is being subjected to the longitudinal corrugating action of the punch 41. By suitably proportioning the stroke of the punch 41 and properly shaping its lower edge and the bottom of the die groove 40, the intermediate strips 32of the stock may be longitudinally corrugated if desired.

The slitting or cutting tools proper are carried by a punch block 50 and a die block' 51 and consist of a series of punches and a series of dies 'which are all alike and similarly supported. As these tools are subjected to peculiar stresses in operation and tend to work loose and become distorted, it is necessary to construct them so that they can be are each provided with a series of grooves 54 which thus interrupt the cutting edges 55 and 56 and afford a series of short cutting edges to correspond with the number of slits to be formed in each row of slits, in this case four. The top and bottom of each cutter block may be provided with grooves 54 intersecting the ends of the vertical grooves 54 so as to form shearing ends to the cutting edges as will be obvious from inspection of Fig. 8. It will be seen that each cutter block has two rows of cutting faces which converge toward the point of the block, the cutting edges on opposite faces being arranged in pairs. The punch and die blocks each consist of solid blocks with a number of wedge-shape recesses- 57 for receiving the cutters. Each cutter is held in place by two dogs. The toe dog 58 is cylindrical and fits in a cylindri'cally drilled .hole in the holder and is'held down by a screw such as 59 which screws into the tapped hole in the holder. This toe dog has a lug 60 which fits into a transverse slot 61 in the toe of the cutter. The heel of each cutter'is held by a heel dog 62 which has a flange 63 which fits -in a slot 64 in the heel of the cutter. This dog is forced toward the end of the cutter so as to force the cutter into its recess in the holder by means of a clamp bolt 65 which passes through the flange 66 in the holder. A locking nut or clamping nut 67 is provided on this bolt. The dog 62 is clamped to the holder by a screw such as 68. This construction insures aproper centering and clamping of the cutter and prevents it from working loose or being twisted out of place. Between each two die cutters may be arranged a lifting plate 70 supported on pins 71 which rest on buttons 72 each pressed upward by a spring 73 and screw 74. The tops of these lifter plates are normally on a level with the tops of the die cutters. The punch cutters are arranged over the lifter plates to fit between the die cutters with their vertical cutting edges coacting with the vertical cutting edges of the die cutters,

the grooves 54 of the punch cutters and die cutters being in alinement. A stripper plate 75 has a series of fingers 76 which are arranged somewhat above the tops of the die cutters. The lifter plates hold the strands and prevent them from turning edgewise while being cut and force the metal stock upward after each stroke and free it from the die cutters whilerthe stripper fingers 76 strip the material from the punch cutters in case it adheres-to them in their retracting movement. .A zig-zag row of short slits is formed at each stroke of the press. The length of the slits and consequently .the

length of the bonds between them depends upon the size of the grooves 54 and may be varied by varying the width of the end of the groove. The stock should be guided between the cutters for instance, by guidessuch as 77 on each side. I

The width of the strands produced by the slitting may be readily increased or decreased by simply increasing or decreasin the length of the feed of the stock.

After slitting, the slitted portions may be flattened between the hammer or punch 78 and the anvil or die 79 so as to remove any tendency to distortion and bring the strands and bonds all into a common plane.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 the cutting edges are provided by a number of thin plates 80 in zigzag arrangement. These are held in'V-shaped recesses in the die bed 81 by wedge-shaped blocks 82, the latter being suitably held for instance, by one or more screws or bolts 83. A lifter plate 84, pressed upward by springs 85, may be provided between the die cutters. A stripper plate 86 is located above the tops of the die cutters.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 12' to 15 the die cutters are in the form of blocks 90 and 91 having converging grooves with lifter rods 92, 93 pressed upward by pins94 and springs 95. The die blocks are mounted in a holder 96 being held by the under-cut flange 97 and forcing bolts 98 and clamping bolts 99. The punch cutters are in the form of plates 100 of the width of the grooves in v the die blocks, which width is that of the strands desired. These punch cutters are held in a punch holder 101 bywedges 102. These cutter plates 100- out on both edges and are provided with grooves 103 and 104 arranged in staggered arrangement on opposite sides to'provide for the bond between the slits in their respective rows. The rods 92, 93 may be held in place by cross-pieces 105. Lateral gages or guide pieces 106 are provided on opposite sides and a stripper plate 107 is provided above the 'die blocks.

In the form shown in Figs. 16 and 17 wedge-shaped blocks 110, 110 are carried by the die holder 111 and afford lateral supporting walls for the successive die cutters 112, 113, etc. Wedge-shaped blocks such as 114 are provided for clamping the die cutters in place. These blocks 114 are clamped to the die holder by screws 115 and may be forced up into position by bolts 116. Strippers 117 and 118 are provided above the die cutters. The punch cutters 119, 120 are arranged as complemental to the die cutters. By this construction a plurality of rows of slits may be formed at each stroke of the press.

While I have shown and described herein a mechanism for slitting and also corrugat- 1ng the material it should be understood mechanism'herein set forth may be treated by mechanism other than the corrugating mechanism herein described and it should also be understood that material slitted and corrugated as herein set forth or corrugated -duce a plurality of short slits and leaving unslitted strips, and corrugating means in longitudinal alinement with the spaces between the cutters for engaging unslitted strips longitudinally along some of the centers of the points of change of direction of the zigzag slits and carrying said centers of the slitted sections out of the original plane and opening the slits.

2. In a metal Working machine, cooperating stationary and movable punch and die cutters arranged in spaced sections with their cutting edges interrupted between the sections, means for operating such cutters to form slitted sections consisting of short slits instaggered arrangementand leaving marginal and intermediate unslitted strips and corrugating means in longitudinal alinement with the spaces between the sections of cutters for engaging the slitted stock along the lines of centers of the slitted sections and thereby opening the slits transversely. I

3. In a metal working machine, means for forming a series of longitudinal corrugations in an unslitted sheet, punch and die cutters for forming successive rows of short slits in staggered arrangement between the corrugations and corrugating means for subsequently engaging the centers of the slitted portions and carrying 'the slitted portions out of the original plane to open the slits.

4:. In a metal working machine, a holder with V-shaped recesses, cutter plates inclined in opposite directions in said recesses, wedges for clamping a pair of cutter plates in each recess, vertically movable cutting means having cutting edges inclined in opposite directions and both arranged to cut strands from a strip of stock in front of the inclined plates so as 'to leave the strands free to be fed forward without engaging the cutter plates after the cutting stroke, means for feeding a sheet of metal longitudinally to said cutters and means for feeding said sheet longitudinally away from said cutters.

5. In a metal working machine, a plurality of sets of inclined cutting and exparading punches and dies, each set being longitudinal unslitted arranged to'slit and open a section of the sheet into a deeply corrugated form of mesh- Work, adjacentsets being spaced apart laterally for leaving unslitted members, means for guiding and supporting the unslitted margins of the sheet, means for supporting other unslitted members between the said sets of punches and dies, means for intermittently operating said punches and dies to progressively slit and open the stock transversely between the supporting means and means for feeding the stock step by ste 6 In a metal working machine, means for automatically feeding a sheet of metal, die members having a plurality of pairs of rows of small cooperating die cutter faces, the rows of each pair of rows being arranged on lines extending diagonal to the direction of feed of the sheet and adjacent rows being spacedapart laterally, correspondingly arranged punch members having cutter faces cooperating with the die cutter faces, each pair of rows of cutter faces forming a series of short slits in staggered arrangement comprising a slitted section as the sheet is fed forwardly and leaving marginal and intermediate unslitted members bordering and connecting the slitted sections respectively 1 and means for opening the slits.

7. In an expanded'metal machine, a series of spaced inclined cutters for slitting longitudinal sections of a sheet and leaving marginal and intermediate unslitted strips, supporting members in line with the spaces between the cutters and expanding means in longitudinal alinement with the spaces between the cutters for progressively carrying the slitted sections down between the supporting members and opening the meshwork transversely as the stock moves forward.

8. In a metal working machine, a plurality of sets of spaced means for forming successive short slits in staggered arrangement in longitudinal sections of a sheet leaving strips connecting slitted sections and means for successively flattening the slitted sections.

19. In a metal working machine, a plurality of sets of spaced means for forming successive short slits in staggered arrangement in longitudinal sections of a sheet leaving unslitted strips connecting slitted sections, means for flattening the slitted sections and corrugating means for subsequently opening the slitted sections.

10. In a metal working machine, a plurality of punch and die cutters arranged with their cutting edges in zig-zag outline, each cutting edge being interrupted at a plurality of points and also interrupted at the points of change of direction of the slits so as to produce expansible sections united along intermediate longitudinal unslitted strips, means for feeding the stock longi T tudinally and means for corrugating the slitted sheet along some of the unslitted strips.

. 11- In ametal working machine, punch slits in staggered arrangement, corrugating means for engaging the slitted stock along the lines of centers of the slitted sections and opening the slits transversely and means for corrugating the unslitted portions between the.slitted sections.

12. In an expanded meta] machine, a plurality of sets of spaced cutters having short cutting edges arranged on a zig-zag line across the'machine, means for feeding stock longitudinally, means for operating said cutters to produce zig-zag rows of slits in staggered arrangement leaving marginal and intermediate unslitted members, means for adjusting the length of feed of the stock and thereby alterin the width of the strands produced by the sitting and means for opening the slits to form meshwork.

13. In a metal working machine, rolls for feeding a sheet having slitted sections connected by unslitted strips, means for successively subjecting limited lengths of the slitted sections to a corrugating action. along the centers of the slitted sections to open the slits, means for holding the edges of the sheet during the corrugating action and spaced means for forming corrugations .in

unslitted strips of said sheet. 14. In an expanded metal machine, marginal and intermediate sp ced means for supporting parallel longitudinal unslitted strips of a partially slitted sheet, andlongitudinally curved spaced means for successively engaging the slitted sections of said sheet between said supports and progressively corrugating the sheet and thereby opening the meshwork transversely as the sheet moves through themachine.

15. In an expanded metal machine, marginal and intermediate means for supporting parallel longitudinal unslitted strips of a partially slitted sheet, means for successively engaging central unslitted strips of said sheet midway between the supports and.

progressively displacing said central strips and transversely opening the meshwork and meansfor feeding the sheet out.

1 6. In an expanded metal machine, marginal and intermediate spaced means for supporting a plurality of unslitted strips of a partially slltted sheet, means for feeding a partially slitted sheet along said supporting means with the unslitted StIlPSOf sa1d sheet over the supports and other unslittedstrips of said sheet between the supports,

movable expanding members for gradually carrying the intermediate unslitted strips down between the supports and thereby pro gressively opening the meshwork into a se- .r1es of transverse corrugations.

17. In an expanded metal machine, a longitudinally grooved bed having a plurality of marginal and intermediate supporting shoulders, means for longitudinally feeding a slitted sheet along said bed intermittently and a plurality of reciprocating expanding members operable between said supporting shoulders for engaging the slitted stock and intermittently carrying portions of it down into the grooves and thereby progressively forming corrugated meshwork sections.

18. In an expanded metal machine, a supporting member having a plurality of deep grooves with marginal and intermediate shoulders for supporting unslitted strips of a partially slitted sheet,'expanding members operable in said grooves for drawing the centers of slitted sections of such a sheet down while the unslitted strips are supported on said supporting shoulders and means for longitudinally feeding the stock automatically over said bed beneath said expanding members and thereby progressively corrugating the sheet to open the slitted sections into inclined meshwork sections.

19. In a machine of the character described, means for feeding stock longitudinally, a plurality of slitting units arranged spaced apart across the machine so as to leave longitudinal unslitted strips, each unit consisting of upper and lower pairs of plates, the plates of each pair being arranged on edge and inclined toward each other at an acute angle, the cutting edges of the plates of at least one pair of each unit being notched so as to leave bonds between the slits, the upper plates of each unit being located in such relation to the lower plates of such unit that the'upper plates cooperate with the front faces of said lower plates thereby forming successive rows of strands substantially as described as the stock is fed.

20. In a machine of the character described, means for feeding stock longitudinally, a plurality of slitting units each consisting of upper and lower cutters and ar-;

21. In an expanded metal machine, upper and lower sets of cutters arranged in pairs spaced apart from each other so as to form a plurality of rows of slits in longitudinal sections of a sheet and leave marginal and intermediate unslitted strips, supports for the marginal and intermediate strips and means movable between said supports for opening the slitted sections transversely into oppositely inclined meshwork.

22. In an expanded metal machine, means for feeding a sheet, upper and lower cutters arranged along lines inclined to the direction of feed to slit the sheet in zig-z ag arrangement and to leave marginal and 1ntermediate unslitted strips, means for gripping the marginal unslitted strips, means for supporting the other alternate unslitted strips, and means for transversely corrugating and foreshortening some of sald unslitted strips.

23. In an expanded metal machine, means for longitudinally feeding a sheet consisting of marginal and intermediate unslitted strips and'intervening slitted and expansible sections, means for opening the slitted sections to form meshwork and means for transversely corrugating and foreshortening some of the longitudinal unslitted strips.

24. In an expanded metal machine, means for feeding asheet consisting of longitudinal marginal and intermediate unslitted strips connected by a slitted expansible section, means for carrying alternate unslitted.

strips into different planes and thereby opening the meshwork and means for transversely corrugating and foreshortening some of said unslitted strips.

25.. In an expanded metal machine, a plurality of spaced apart supports, means for feeding a partially slitted sheet with unslitted strips along said supports, means for .gripping the unslitted edges of said sheet and means for engaging the centers of the slitted sections between said sup orts and carrying said centers between sai supports so as to open the slitted sections to form meshwork.

a 26. In an expanded metal machine, a plurality of spaced apart supports, means-for feeding a partially slitted sheet with unslitted strips along said supports, means for gripping the unslitted edges of said sheet, means for engaging the centers of the slitted sections between said supports and carrying said centers between said supports.

so as to open the slitted sections to form meshwork and means for transversely corrugating some of the unslitted strips.

27 In an expanded metal machine, a plurality of spaced apart supports, means for feeding a partially slitted sheet with unslitted strips along said supports, means for sections between said supports and carrying gripping the unslitted edges of said sheet, means for engaging the centers of the slitted said centers between said supports so as to open the slitted sections to form meshwork,

and means for corrugating the marginal unslitted stripstransversely to the direction of feed.

28. In an expanded metal machine, means for slitting a section of a sheet, means for 29. In an expanded metal machine, means .for slitting stock and laterally spaced means adjacent thereto for transversely corrugat ing and foreshortening narrow strips of the stock and compensating for the foreshortening due to the expanding action.

30. In an expanded metal machine, means for slitting stock, spaced supports for the margins and intermediate portions of the stock, means for engaging the upper face of the stock between the supports and spaced means fOr transversely corrugating the margins of' the stock.

31. In an expanded metal machine, means for feeding stock, mechanism for slitting and opening a section of the stock and adjacent means for transversely corrugating portions of the stock to compensate for the foreshortening due to the opening.

32. In an expanded metal machine, means for slitting longitudinal sections of a sheet, leaving unslit margins, means for opening the slitted portion to form meshwork and means for transversely corrugating the unslit margins.

33. In an expanded metal machine, means for slitting longitudinal sections of a sheet leaving margins and intermediate unslit strips and means for transversely corrugating someof the unslit strips.

4. In an expanded metal machine, means for feeding a sheet having longitudinal unslitted strips and intermediate slitted portions, means for opening the slitted portions and means for transversely corrugating some of the unslitted strips.

35. In an expanded metal machine, means for corrugating slitted portions of a sheet in one plane to open the slits and means for corrugating unslitted strips transversely to foreshorten the unslitted strips and feed the.

alternate upper and lower members for en-' gaging the intermediate unslitted strips.

37. In an expanded metal machine, means for transversely corrugating and foreshortening marginal unslitted strips of partially slitted stock, means for supporting other unslitted strips in the same plane as the marginal strips, and means for moving other unslitted strips into another plane to open slitted portions and form oppositely inclined meshwork sections.

38. In an expanded metal machine, upper and lower cutters with their cutting edges arranged along converging lines but spaced apart at the center so as to slit portions of a sheet and so as to leave unslitted marginal and central strips and means for moving the central strip backward relative to the strips at the margins and opening the slitted portions to form meshwork.

39. In an expanded metal machine, means for feeding stock longitudinally, upper and lower cutters with cutting edges arranged inclined relative to the direction of feed, one set of cutting edges being interrupted at the center and one set of cutting edges being interrupted at points along their sides so as to slit portions of the stock in staggered arrangement as it is fed and so as to leave unslitted strips at the center and on each side of the slitted portion, and means for giving the central strip a longitudinal movement relative to the marginal strips and moving the central strip relatively out of the plane of the marginal strips so as to open the slitted ortions and form inclined meshwork.

40. 11 an expanded metal machine, means for feeding stock longitudinally, upper and lower slitting cutters with edges arranged on zig-zag lines crosswise of the machine and interrupted at intervals so as to form slitted portions and leave marginal and intervening unslitted strips, and mechanism for moving some of the unslitted strips relatively out of the plane of, and longitudinally of the remaining unslitted strips so as to open the slitted portions and form meshwork.

41. In an expanded metal machine, means for feeding stock longitudinally, a series of supports spaced apart across the machine for supporting longitudinal unslitted strips of partially slitted stock, and curved ex panding members extending between said supports for moving intervening unslitted strips longitudinally relative to and out of the plane of the strips supported on said supports.

NORRIS ELMORE CLARK. Witnesses D. G. CLARK, E. E. DANIELS. 

